The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-04-19
FOREIGN.
Another Exciting Debate In the House
ofcommons.
Gladstone Speaks and Meets With a
Grand Reception.
ParneIl EmphaticaIIy Pronounces the
London Times Letter a Forgery.
LONDON. Apri

| Colonel King Harman, the new parliamen.
tary under secretary for Ireland, for the first
time since his appointment answered inter
rogations In the House Of Commons respect.
ing Irish affairs. Upon rising he was greet.
ed with cheers by the government support
ers, and groans and derisive cries by the
Parnellites. He stated in response To :
question that since March lst, only two ten
ants had been evicted from the Marquis of
Lansdownes estates. These two evictions
however, had involved the eviction Of l6 sub
| tenants.
Mr. Sexton asked whether the government
would consent to rescind the suspension Of
Mr.. w. II. Smith, first lord Of the treasury
| replied for the government that the duty
they had to discharge Friday night was mos
diSagreeable. The government was sorry
| they were forced to ask that Healy be re
moved for transgressing the orders Of the
| House. 1t would be utterly out Of the ques
| tl0n, however, when no apology had been
| given for this breach Of the decencies Of de.
bate to rescind the suspension. A nomi
nation that might be made to that effect
could not be entertained without the general
concurrence Of the House.
Mr.: Sexton inquired If it was competent
1or him to move the resembling Of Healy's
suspension.
Speaker Peel replied that no motion would
be competent unless II appeared on the pa
pers Of the House.
Mr.. Sexton, continuing, said that in the
absence of Mr.. Healy he was authorized for
him to say that If Major Saunderson with
drew the offensive charges to which Mr..
Heaiys Language. was In reply, Mr.. Healy
would withdraw the expression deemed by
the House offensive. Mr. Sexton then moved
that Mr.. Healy be heard at the bar of the
House. The Speaker declared that could
not be done.
Mr.. Sexton thereupon asked Major Sam
derson to withdraw his assertions regarding
Mr.. Healy. and which had exasperated him
lnto'making the responses for which he was
suspended.
Major Sanlderson remaining silent, Mr..
Gladstone put to nm the direct question as
to whether he was Prepared to render the
House any assistance by the withdrawal Of
his offensive expressions.
Don't" Don't"
Major Saunderson then arose and said he
had never alluded to Mr.. Healy, directly or
indirectly, because he had felt, as regards
Mr.. Healy, that he was unable to substanti-
ate the charges so as to bring conviction to
the minds Of the members Of the House.
Cries of Hear" "Hear'9.
The matter was then dropped
Subsequently Mr.. Sexton, resuming the de-
bate on the Irish crimes act amendment bill,
said MIR. Saunderson had charged him with
direct completely in the crime. If the ac-
cusatlons were well founded, why did the
irish Nlceroy approve his present appoint
ment as high sheriff Of Dublin? His name
as member of the league had been linked
with that OF Sheridan, the invincible, but
Sheridan was never a member of the execu-
tive council Of the Land League. Did Major
Saunderson In pointing to him (Sexton)
mean in reality to embarrass Colonel King
Hartman. against whom the Major had re-
Gently unsuccessfully competed for the new
government Office of Parliamentary Under
Secretary for Ireland? (Parnellite cheers
For Sheridan and King Harman once can
vassed the same constituency together. The
treasurer Of the old Land League was at one
time an intimate friend Of Colonel King Har-
man. (Cheers.) They were fellow members
OF the council Of the Home Rule League /;
not only that, Egan wrote for the Colonel his
political address to the electors. daughter J
IL past association with men charged with
crime meant completely in that crime which
side OF the house was deepest in assassina-
tion. 1t was manifestly an absurdity for
Saunderson to accuse the executive of land
league OF knowing thatmen were murderers
because their names were mentioned in con-
nectlon with the Phoenix Park affair He
(Sexton) had never learned of any fact or of
anythink that had been proved which would
warrant him In changing the opinion he had
always entertained that Egan and those as
sociated with him were Innocent of malignant
charges brought against them. (Crfes of
Hear" "Hear.'D Major Saunderson's at
tack was both mean and cowardly. 1t did
not contain direct and explicit charges, but
1t was composed of insinuations founded on
light vf day not a rag of those scandalous
fabricati0ns would hold together, not one of
them would remain whether they took the
shape OF simple lie or that of manifest
clumsy and malignant forgery. Parnellite
cheers. Whatever shape they might hence
forth take the speaker would pay no atten-
| tion to them. The only way to argue with
| that sort Of people, who make such atteeks,
| was to horse whip them or take them before
the law. Referring to the bill under con
| slderation, Mr.. Sexton said the measure
threatened the existence of the Irish Nation
| al League. He would remind the House
| that the league was aided by the prelates
| and clergy Of the Catholic church and strug-
gled to maintain the moral law. Yet this
| league, so supported, was stigmatized as a
| conspiracy maintained by criminals and
| dynamiters. The bill itself was the grossest
| kind of an attempt of the violation of the
moral law. The bill aimed to sweep away
all the cherished rights of the people. 1t
was justified by nothing in the condition of
| Ireland.
Mr.. Sexton, continuing, said it was absurd
| TO attempt TO suppress body strong in the
| hearts OF the Irish and so powerfully sup
| ported in Ireland and America as the
National League. which SO far from being
u.
to put it down. If the bill was passed il
would happily hasten the ruin Of the gov
| ernment. The day which saw the downfall
Of the government would witness the cessa-
tion Of coercion. Cheers)
| Lord harrington, who on rising wa:
| greeted with cheers, said 1t was strangI
that section Of the Liberals, now described
by the Parnellites as great and generoul
| Liberal party, was a very short time agI
denounced as perhdious, venal, and II
every way contemplate. The House had
heard the only answer which Mr.. Sexton
/ thought necessary and sufficient to meet the
| charges against him and his friends, made
chiefly not within. but outside the House
| Could the House accept that answer as
sufficient? Was q bare denial OF the exist.
enee of any proof any kind of a response al
| all to make to the evidence supporting the
| accusation? (Cheers.) He had himself
| publicly declined that there was a connec-
| tion between the Irish party in Parliament
and the Fenian Association In America, and
he had expected Mr.. Parnel, when Parlia-
ment met, would deny the accusation and
state the grounds of his denial.
Mr.. l-lnterrupting) Il stated that
it was false II say so still" (Cheers.)
Lord Hartington-"A blank denial in the
face OF opposing proof is worth nothing
| The statements made in the Times has been
| widely circulated and never have been shown
| to have been wrong, and the letter printed In
this mornings Times has justified every syl
| liable uttered In aSSOclating the Irish party
with the Fenian society. Ford, Egan, Ben
nan and Sullivan were Fenian leaders anC
| statements of the Times proved cOnclusivelJ
| that constant communications passed be-
tween Mr.. Parnell and these persous."
Mr.. Parnell-"Will the noble lord give hi:
reasons for supposing these gentlemen to be
leaders of the Fenians in America? l dc
not know them as such.''
Lord Hartingt0n-"My belief Is based up
on knowledge acquired when l was last In
office. (Cheers.) There is also q fact that
| the same statements repeatedly have beer
made in the papers without contradiction
Can Mr.. Parnell deny knowing that Alexan
der Sullivan has been a leader of Clan ns
Gael? Mr.. Sexton has alleged that the rea-
son why criminal action was not raised
against the papers was an impossibility OF
getting a fair verdict from the British
jury. That excuse is not one that will
have any weight with the people In
face Of so grave and persistent imputations
The country will not fail to attach du,
weight to the fact that the Irish member:
have shirked the opportunity for disproyine
those charges under OATH 1t has not beer
denied that Parnell and Sexton have beer
| members of the league with Egan, Brennan
| Boynt0n and Sheridan. Sexton has denied
that Egan and Sheridan were on the execu
tive committee, but not that they were
among the chief organizers Of the league.
MIR. Sexton-"They were never anything
of the kind.
Lord Hartington-"They were prominen
| members then. The assertion OF the Time
is that some Of these men advocated assassi
nation and others were implicated in a con
spiracy to murder"
Mr.. Dillon-"Two Of these gentlemen act
| cd under me- I was chiaf orpanizer of m,